This invention relates to a stationary couch device for replacing the rotating couch roll in a papermaking machine of the type in which a "furnish" of paper stock is formed on a "wire" or endless fabric web, e.g. a Fourdrinier or Former type of papermaking machine.
In a typical such machine, the couch roll, usually situated at the downstream end of the machine, serves the dual purposes of (i) modifying the direction of the web on which the furnish is carried and (ii) extracting additional water from such furnish. Downstream of the couch roll the web passes over a main drive roll and is returned along the underside of the machine to receive further paper stock at the upstream end. Before the web reaches the drive roll, the furnish is removed from it by a pickup roll for transfer to a press section.